Life in Springfield

I have been really bad at posting lately. I have been busy unpacking, getting settled in and mostly trying to find a job.

I love living down here. I love the quietness and just general laid back attitude that this part of Oregon seems to evoke. I hear people talk about how bad traffic is around here, but after commuting to downtown Portland for 7 years, Eugene/Springfield have a long ways to go until they truly experience "bad" traffic. So far the worst I have seen is when UofO has a home game and one happens to be foolish enough to drive past Autzen Stadium prior to game time. We did that over Labor Day just so I could see what it was like. I was glad not to be one of the people living near the stadium or one of the thousands trying to find parking and not go broke in the process.

Job hunting has been very frustrating. There have been several large companies with huge layoffs in the area and given the current ecomony jobs are scarse. Add to that the fact that salaries down here are much lower then Portland. I have had a couple of interviews, one with the company Brian works for in fact. That would be a great opportunity, but they are uncertain of what they really are looking for. I had another company offer me a position but at a much much lower salary then I feel my experience calls for. So Brian & I decided that it probably wasn't the job for me. At the same time that offer came along I also received the opportunity for a temp position through Accountemps. It is for probably one of the best companies to work for down here and one that I would LOVE to work for pemanently. It is for Emerald People's Utility District and they provide electrical service to the outlying communities. Ironically....they also offer internet access for their customers and Brian maintains their internet servers. In fact it was their server that crashed while we were having our wedding pictures taken. Brian was thrilled that I got this opportunity, he loves the company and hopes that something permanent will open up for me. I started last Monday and the job goes through November. It felt good to get back to work.

The past weekend was the Eugene Celebration. Brian and I went on Saturday to see the parade and explore the area afterwards. It was fun. Nothing beats a small town parade.








And of course, this being Eugene, one nevers knows what one might see in a parade........




After the parade was over with we wandered around downtown through the farmers market and then over to the celebration area where we found sitting under a tree reading Moby Dick Brian's friend and groomsman from our wedding, Jamie. It was fun to catch up with him.